Anyone have questions for Gregory Crewdson?

[removed account4]

ahhh i getit, he's a sell out ?

i am not talking about mark klett ..
but the folks who never do anything
other than photograph the same things/style

 

[Ross Chambers]

He is doing a public lecture in Adelaide on Tuesday as well. I was going to attend, but it's a work day and all that (plus something doesn't sit right having to pay $20 to hear someone speak, unless its for charity).

Ah but you don't have a US Studies Centre at Adelaide University as we do at University of Sydney (established during the reigns of Bush and Howard, but surprisingly benign) For us it's free.

 

[jford]

I actually think that finding other people's tripod holes could be very instructive, if not in the mind and technique of whichever famous photographer you've chosen to follow around, at least in the lesson that photography is all about light, and that light changes. I've been enjoying this recently. Tripod holes is exactly the right thing to do, so long as you find out when to move on from tripod holes and find your own voice.

Back to Crewdson, I agree with 36cm2 above:

As for Crewdson, his stuff is a bit too plasticky for me, but I do find the sheer scale of preparation required for his constructs to be interesting.

Well put.

 

[Alex Bishop-Thorpe]

We actually got to meet him today and he's not pompous at all. Jet lagged, but very down to earth and interested in getting to know people and having a nice chat. Very approachable. And actually quite technically skilled - he spent a lot of years without a production crew just like the rest of us, and was more than capable of talking technique as well as concept.

I was a little sceptical, but it's been really an excellent experience so far - my portfolio review is on Thursday, the very last one.

 

[jovo]

There was a TV documentary about him a few years ago that detailed a couple of his quite elaborate and labor intensive shoots. It was very interesting, and I didn't think he came across as particularly pompous. He was, after all, directing a rather large production and seemed to be able to do it with conviction and competence, but not much in the way of bossiness or arrogance at all.

I'm always interested in "successful" photographers accounts of how they marketed their work and how they got "shown and known"! Ask him to tell that story...I'd love to hear it.

 

[zenrhino]

The argument (that I'm not sure he's made) of resolution in 8x10" is wasted in stacking focus and post compositing - why not shoot smaller format digital ?

See, where I think, "Why not shoot some bleeding-edge super high end massive format digital?"

I always expect to hear that guys like Crewdson and Soth have switched from film to some digital thing they got from a Hubble Space Telescope surplus store.

 

[Alex Bishop-Thorpe]

So far as getting shown and known, it seems to have been a mix of knowing the right people and sheer determination. With the scale of work he does he's backed by galleries who take on the production role of funding the project, so building up to that level was simply a matter of working hard for years and making good work until the galleries believed in what he was doing. Building relationships with people and institutions is clearly part of that.

And his explanation for the shift from film to digital was simply because it suited his process of working better - not being able to see the result straight away has always been a real problem, especially considering the complex mix of of natural and introduced lighting in a lot of photos. If you don't get it right, working with twilight and a massive team of people, you're screwed, basically, and no amount of work in post-production will ever fix it. He said he wont go back to film.

The latest body of work seems to have been about downsizing the scale of how he does things. They were all shot straight, nothing was added in post, and printed at a fairly small size compared to his previous work. Nothing to do with resolution, it was just the right tool for the job for him.

He seems to be reluctant to talk tech over concept and content, which frankly is how it should be, but he's more than capable.

 

[Ross Chambers]

And his explanation for the shift from film to digital was simply because it suited his process of working better - not being able to see the result straight away has always been a real problem, especially considering the complex mix of of natural and introduced lighting in a lot of photos. If you don't get it right, working with twilight and a massive team of people, you're screwed, basically, and no amount of work in post-production will ever fix it. He said he wont go back to film.

A good point, if I can make the analogy to motion picture production. Video assist, which allowed the shot to be played back and assessed immediately, has been in use for at least 20 years. "Rushes" (read Dailies in US) are a costly prioritised step during shooting, the lab liaison person would be there as the print rolled off to phone the DOP as soon as possible after screening and synced up sound and film would be despatched at any price post haste. Set striking, studio hire, actor scheduling were some of the costly elements of a successful or unsuccessful shooting day to be assessed.

Mr. Crewdson is undertaking an exercise which has similar logistics.

 

[Alex Bishop-Thorpe]

It all tidied off today and he's on the way to Sydney to spend some time with his brother (who's also a heck of a nice guy and chatted to us over lunch today). He signed books and posters for people, and then came to the pub with us for a few hours. He dealt with people getting photos taken with him well, he spent time talking to everyone he could, and the only time he was ever really tense was when the media was in the room. He extended a honest invitation for all of the people attending to contact him if they were ever in New York during autumn and he'd let them sit in on one of the weekly masters reviews at Yale - he also gave his personal contact details and said he'd really like to see our progress.

Honestly a humbling experience - great work just seems to come from working hard and being unnaturally committed, and that's what he's done.